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True You

Perhaps the last thing I expected to hear once I began listening to this podcast was a soft women’s voice speaking of how grasshoppers turn to locusts. I was wondering, what the heck does this have to do with the ‘true self?’. It turns out, grasshoppers may just have split personalities. I was hooked. It pulled me in, wondering where NPR was going to take me next. The podcast flowed seamlessly, much like the narrative structure sought by Ira Glass, into two more stories. We first encounter a tough, rough-around-the-edges woman who discovers a secret identity inside of her, hidden in her dreams at night. Then, a cartoonist who has a whole other part of himself that he is ashamed to reveal. Stories about our true selves and embracing them.

The stories are presented through narration, interviews with each subject, and dialogue between the subjects and interviewers. This takes the listener right into the story and makes it feel all the more real. You can hear how the interviews were conducted and the work and research that went into analyzing each subject. The interviews and dialogue were light, but held a certain depth that makes you wonder. I felt like I was right there, next to this woman’s bed, listening to her sleep talk. In the more happy parts of discovery, the podcast was accompanied with uplifting music, where during the more serious there was more intense music. This I found to also be highly effective in setting the current mood of the podcast.

I loved the realness of this podcast. The listener is taken along the journey of these people discovering their true selves through the certain psychological studies and interviews we hear. Upon finishing it, I found myself wondering if I, too have some different version of myself inside of me. Perhap we all do.